Give the Gift of Awesome: 13 Things We Totally Love

December is lousy with impersonal gift guides, but this one's different: Wired staffers have spent quality time with all the items in this gallery and found them to be indispensable.

It's a total geek grab bag that reflects our personal obsessions, from outdoors gear and gadgets to graphic novels and musical equipment. Unlike the stuff we only wish we had (neatly rounded up in our Wish List 2012), these are the items that already make our lives complete.

Click through the gallery above to view a few of our favorite things.

Above:

Yeti SB-66C

The world of mountain bikes is a treacherous place. Not the riding — though that can be, too — but the marketplace. Hardtails, XC bikes, dirt jumpers, downhill bikes, etc., etc., etc. MTB devotees who have the money keep a quiver of rides for good reason: For every trail, there's a different bike that's perfectly suited. Or you could ditch them all and get the Yeti SB-66C (or its 29-inch-wheeled cousin, the SB-95).

The SB-66C is a $7,700 carbon-fiber, all-mountain beast with top-shelf Shimano components and 150 mm of travel in the front fork. But despite those 6 inches of compression, the plushness doesn't sacrifice function. The thing can climb like a mountain goat and descend like a downhill bike, all while being built to take a beating off drops. And it looks like a damn juggernaut to boot. Hop on, get out there, and treat those root clusters like they're golf pencils. —Peter Rubin

Google Nexus 7 Tablet

Google's Nexus 7 is the first Android tablet I can say I have loved using. I almost always have it nearby — on the living room table, on my nightstand, in the backpack I take to work each day, or even in my back pocket when I'm walking around the house. I use it at home, at work, on the bus and subway, and all around San Francisco (where I live). I use it to check e-mail, browse the web, watch HD video, keep up with Twitter, and read books, magazines and comics.

Physically, it's thin and light and easy to hold with one hand — yes, easier to handle than my iPad Mini. Its quad-core processor is wicked fast, and its display is beautifully detailed. In my opinion, it's the best all-around small tablet experience you can get. Especially when you consider it sells for just $200.

In fact, I like the Nexus 7 so much that I bought one for my dad. It's not perfect. The Nexus 10 has a bigger, better display. Apple's iPad has the best tablet apps. The Kindle Fire HD integrates with Amazon's online services the best. But when it comes to bang for your buck, nothing matches the Nexus 7. Which is why it's the tablet I use the most and my pick for this list. —Nathan Olivarez-Giles

Bradley Digital Smoker

"Low and slow" is the eternal mantra of the world's pit masters, those smoke-taming wizards capable of turning cheap meat into tender delicacies. The most difficult part of the equation is maintaining the perfect temperature inside the smoker: If you're using charcoal or hardwoods, the fire will need tending, and that can be a hassle, especially with longer smoking sessions.

I've used the $500 Bradley Digital Smoker extensively, and it makes "low and slow" truly easy while delivering outstanding results — it's the closest thing you'll find to a set-it-and-forget-it barbecue machine. Just plug it in, select an appropriate temperature, load up the feed tube with little wood-chip pucks called "bisquettes," put your food on the racks in the cabinet and wait for a miracle to occur. You might need to replenish the bisquettes or adjust the length of time for the smoke, but that part's easier than mopping a pork butt.

For old-school barbecue freaks, the Bradley Digital Smoker might seem like a cheat: It's almost too easy to whip up a batch of tantalizing ribs, a tender 14-hour brisket or some delicious cold-smoked salmon. But that simplicity means you'll be smoking more, trying new recipes and experimenting with various types of smoke. (Bisquettes come in a wide variety of "flavors," from alder to whiskey oak.) —Lewis Wallace

Are You My Mother? by Alison Bechdel

Explaining why Alison Bechdel's graphic novel Are You My Mother? is so brilliant is kind of like explaining what happens in a Lars von Trier flick. You kind of just have to get it. But I'll try.

Bechdel started her life as a comic strip creator, then made a big jump in 2006 by releasing a tragi-comic tale about her relationship with her father called Fun Home. It became Time's No. 1 book of the year and really changed what a graphic novel could be (and how well the form could be received in literary circles).

She's pulled off a similar trick with Are You My Mother?, but this time she's taken more of a meta-narrative approach — interweaving her own family experiences with the life and studies of folks like Virginia Woolf and 20th-century psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott. Jumping around in time and flipping between her internal and external lives, Bechdel's story looks and feels like what comics artists would see as their own autobiographies.

Are You My Mother? probably won't appeal to all fans of standard comic books — there isn't a single superheroine, save for the author herself — but it will appeal to many, and may even attract readers who never thought of reading a graphic novel. I got lost in every page. —Angela Watercutter

Spotlight Rescue Rechargeable Flashlight

I shudder at the thought of buying any of my friends or family anything that requires any sort of technical support. While getting a tablet for my mom, who hasn't used a computer since monochrome screens were phased out, might seem like a good idea, in reality it's a recipe for marathon phone calls trying to get the Wi-Fi to work. Worse, my mom will end up leaving the tablet on the table for months on end because "it doesn't work."

I'm a bit more practical this year: I'll be giving the Spotlight Rescue 12-volt rechargeable flashlight to my friends and family. The flashlight charges via a car's 12-volt port (aka cigarette lighter), so you always know where it is and it's always ready to go when you need it. Plus, it's bright. Bright enough to blind two Wired staff members while "testing" the manufacturer's claim of 96-plus lumens of output.

Maybe giving a flashlight seems like a cruel gift, but when their car breaks down on a long stretch of road during the inky depths of a new moon, they'll be happier with that rechargeable torch than they would with a random tablet. Also, it's good for finding spare change under the seats. —Roberto Baldwin

Osprey Raptor 10

Hydration packs have always been a necessary evil for me. When I'm hiking or mountain biking, they're the best solution for staving off dehydration — but they're a pain in the ass to clean, and sometimes they just make me hotter than I already am. Leave it to Osprey, my favorite bag company, to take care of both problems with a little ingenuity.

The Raptor is my third Osprey — along with a Momentum for commuting and a Kestrel for backpacking — but it's my first hydration pack from the Colorado company. And from my first use, I was sold. The bladder's rigid handle and back panel negate the squish factor and make it a breeze to fill and clean, and the proprietary bite valve swings from shut to open with a 90-degree twist — no more spills on the way to the trailhead. There's even a magnet clip that secures the bite valve to the chest strap, which lets me bomb down singletrack without it brushing against every tree on the trail. As for heat dissipation, the semi-rigid mesh overlayer over the back panel keeps the fit secure without turning me into C + C Perspiration Factory.

While the bladder holds the same 100 ounces that most Osprey bags do, the $99 Raptor 10 is the second smallest, which means you're not going to have room for a ton of stuff. Still, I'm able to roll out with an extra layer, a first aid kit, and plenty of snacks — and that doesn't count the integrated roll-out tool pouch in a separate bottom container or the two zippered hip-belt pockets that handle my phone and whatever else I might need to secret away for a long day in the woods. —Peter Rubin

Five Ten Minnaar Mountain Bike Shoes

Santa Cruz Bicycles launched the all-carbon V10c but would not give me one. Greg Minnaar is already riding one to the victory podium, and he would not give me one either. So I bought a pair of his mountain bike shoes instead.

The Five Ten Minnaars are not as cool as the lightest downhill mountain bike in the world. Hell, they are not even light. But they are clipless-compatible, built like tanks, grippy as Velcro and — in a weird, clunky sort of way — almost stylish.

I'll never descend like Minnaar, but I'm still gonna wear his shoes and hope the folks at Santa Cruz change their minds about that "review" unit. —Jim Merithew

Meyerhoffer White Ass Surfboard

If you could get a former Apple designer to hand-build a surfboard for your ocean-going pleasure, why wouldn't you? Thomas Meyerhoffer is a guy who has been the creative mind behind ski goggles, golf gear and the original candy-colored iMac.

In everything Meyerhoffer designs, he's looking to bring a new approach, a mindset that questions the old way of doing things. In the surf world, that can get you into trouble: Paddle out with a strange-looking board, and unless you rip like Dane Reynolds, the stink-eyes fly. Surfers, for all their "brah" posturing, are a conservative lot when it comes to their boards.

The White Ass board, $725, is the perfect combination of surfing's roots and enough Meyerhoffer thinking and sleek design to have everyone in the pre- and post-session parking lot wanting to check it out. At 5 feet, 6 inches long, it's a bit small for Northern California's winter swells, but it's able to handle surf much bigger than you might think. Even so, get it out at a point break in Santa Cruz, big or small surf, and it flies. Skatey because of its width and quad setup, it's fast, paddles easier than you might think and — best of all — it's super fun. And fun is the whole point. —Michael V. Copeland

Randy's Revenge Ring Modulator

The name of this guitar effects pedal, and actually the pedal itself, reminds me of the time I was riding around Nashville with my buddy Randy while he desperately looked for a bathroom. It was amazing fun for me, but not so much for him.

Twiddling the knobs on the Randy's Revenge ring modulator from Fairfield Circuitry proves both exhilarating and befuddling. Any curious guitarist will find some amazingly pleasant tremolo and vibrato tones to be found in this little $300 box of magic — there are some wacky '60s sci-fi movie bleeps and blops hidden in there (some of which will surely be lost forever with the next nudge of the knobs).

If the guitarist on your list has already explored all the usual modulation choices — reverb, chorus, flange, etc. — and they wish they had more knobs to twist, more switches to flip and are even thinking it would be fun to have an expression pedal option to manipulate their soundscapes, look no further. —Jim Merithew

Sena SMH-10 Motorcycle Headset/Intercom

The best thing about riding motorcycles, aside from the constant adrenaline rush, is being alone in your helmet. It's meditative. The worst thing about riding motorcycles, aside from the constant threat of imminent death, is being alone in your helmet. It rules out telling riding buddies there’s a cop up ahead.

Bluetooth to the rescue.

A handful of high-end Bluetooth intercoms let you take and make calls, talk to other riders and stream music from your phone. My favorite is the Sena SMH-10. It rocks.

I put one to the test during a six-day, 15-state ride in late October and found it dead simple to use, with excellent range, easy syncing and eternal battery life. It's also tougher than turkey jerky — two days of torrential rain and temperatures in the 30s couldn't kill it, even when I dropped my helmet.

The SMH-10 isn't perfect. It needs more volume and better bass with music — it's fine at any speed for talking, but forget about listening to music north of 70 mph. The mic picks up a lot of ambient noise even when tucked inside your helmet. And the speakers are finicky to install. Still, the $209 Sena is just the ticket for easing the boredom of crossing Kansas and warning your friends about the bogey at 2 o’clock. —Chuck Squatriglia

Hincapie Pacific Rain Shell

Winter is my favorite time to ride my bicycle — I jump at every chance to roll in the rain. Others hide from the seasons, but for me, it's my zen place: quiet roads. A slower pace that allows me to take in my surroundings. The sound of a steady stream beading off the rear tire. Getting dirty.

Sounds romantic doesn't it? That's not to say that being prepared isn't important. The $130 Hincapie Pacific Rain Shell is a utilitarian jacket that wicks away the wind and all that downpour. Constructed of midweight, water-resistant Elasti-Barrier material, it's semi-transparent (for allowing your race number to show) and vents well through the armpits (a key factor in separating it from a plastic bag on a technical level). It's become a reliable partner on those rides that are more elemental — the ones I enjoy the most. —Bradley Hughes

Micromark Markbass Amplifier

Most bass guitarists lug around gear that ranges in size from filing cabinet to refrigerator, always looking for the perfect gut-rattling tone. But sometimes you don't need to fill a room with your massive sound: Sometimes you want an amp you can carry up a flight of stairs without herniating a disc.

That amp is the Micromark bass amp from Markbass, which weighs less than 10 pounds and is about as tall as a longneck beer bottle. Unlike other small bass amps, it doesn't skimp on tone. Rated at 50 watts, the tiny cube-shaped combo sports a 6-inch speaker that puts out plenty of sound for smaller gigs and rehearsals. I've used it for in-studio radio performances, impromptu jams in hotel rooms and acoustic rehearsals. Basically, if there's no drum set involved, the Markbass will get the job done.

With a list price of $769, it's not the cheapest practice amp out there. But its remarkable sound quality will delight any bass player who's more interested in making music than lifting weights. —Lewis Wallace

Vapor Pro Elite iPhone Case

Nothing strikes fear into the heart of an iPhone owner more than the thought of a shattered screen — especially if you drop your phone as often as I do.

Unfortunately, most cases are garish and ugly, and the ones that offer the most substantial protection do so at the cost of the elegant lines and minimalist design that iPhone owners love. The $180 Vapor Pro Elite — with its aluminum frame and leather and wood details — offers substantial protection without compromising the iPhone's understated elegance.

Most importantly, though, I know I never need to worry about the case coming off, no matter how hard I drop my phone. The Vapor Pro Elite can only be assembled and removed with the included speed wrench. So even though the metal makes a horrifying clack when dropped on, say, cement, I know my phone will come up safe every time. —Karissa Bell